


She is a woman, therefore to be won

by Sharpiefan



Series: The Shakespeare Series [15]
Category: The London Life (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Post-Canon, Regency
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8842030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharpiefan/pseuds/Sharpiefan
Summary: Robbie seeks his father's blessing to court a certain lady... The set-up to cafemusain's 'Break thy mind to me in broken English: Wilt thou have me?'





	

_She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd;_  
_She is a woman, therefore to be won._  
\- Henry VI Part 1, Act V, Sc 2

**Rotherham Park, October 1811**

The house-party was over and the guests had mostly left. Robbie himself was supervising the dismantling of the 'theatre', turning the Gold Drawing Room back into a drawing room and the adjoining study back into a study from the green room. He could not help pausing in the middle of the room, remembering how Miss Rosdew had kissed him – it had been so unexpected that he had not reciprocated before she had stepped back with an expression of mixed apology and confusion before turning and almost running from the room without saying a word – without allowing Robbie to say a word.

And now Miss Rosdew was gone, leaving him in the midst of his family and with little chance to establish his precise feelings, and less chance to communicate those feelings to her.

He skipped nimbly aside as the footmen came to replace the desk where it usually stood. The curtains and scenery had long been relegated to storage and the staff really did not require supervision in replacing the furniture. He merely gave them instructions to be careful with the pianoforte and harp before turning to the door, having made up his mind. It was a decision he had been circling even before the last night of the theatrical but Miss Rosdew's actions had crystallised it in his mind and she had gone without allowing themselves to be alone in the same room again.

He knocked on his father's study door; Lord Rotherham was ever a creature of habit and was not needed anywhere at this precise point in time. Robbie knew he had correspondence to answer and business to see to even at this time of year, house party or no.

“Enter!”

He opened the door, trying not to think of the innumerable times he had been here during his life for chastisement for one misdemeanour or another.

“Robbie?” Lord Rotherham lowered a sheet of paper – some letter or other, Robbie had no doubt – to the desk and looked up with a frown. “Have you come to inform me that you have broken a window-pane, or been caught herding my best foxhound through your mother's drawing room, muddy paws and all?”

Robbie blinked, opened his mouth to protest, and noticed the teasing expression in his father's eyes. “I only managed each of those things once, Father, and I was rather younger then.”

“And now you are a staid and dull officer in His Majesty's Fourteenth Light Dragoons,” Lord Rotherham said, leaning back in his chair, correspondence forgotten. “Do sit down, for goodness' sake, and tell me why you wished to see me.”

Robbie sat as directed, although he could not help the very slight twitch of one eyebrow at his father's insinuation. “Oh, please not 'dull', Father – anything but _dull_!”

Rotherham laughed. “That is true enough. So, why are you here?”

It was a moment before he could find the words he wanted. “I would like your blessing to court – someone. To marry her.”

It was the Earl's turn to arch an eyebrow. “You do realise that it is the girl's father of whom you are supposed to ask permission, not your own?”

Robbie shrugged, even as his father got up and crossed to the window. 

“You are a grown man, Robbie, and moreover, you are of age – have been for several years. You do not need my permission.”

“No, Father, but I should like it all the same.” He made a gesture that went unseen; the Earl had his back to him. “I have more freedom in choosing a wife than Richard did, certainly more freedom than Vi and Livvy when it comes to choosing a marriage partner. But it matters to me that... that you approve.”

Lord Rotherham turned to regard his son seriously. “That depends on who it is – I may well have something to say if you have seduced one of the maids.”

Robbie let out a huff of laughter; he had never been the sort to seduce the maids and well his father knew it. “Certainly not! I mean to ask Miss Rosdew.”

“Miss Rosdew?” The Earl came back to his seat and sent Robbie a needle-sharp look laced with curiosity.

“She is perfectly respectable – her father is an Admiral and a baronet. And...” he shrugged. “I do not think that my suit will be unwelcome.” If that kiss was anything to go by, anyway – although neither one of them had had a chance to talk about it, to come to any sort of understanding. There was no sort of privacy to be had in a house full of guests, after all. 

“To go haring off from Yorkshire to... Cornwall, in the middle of winter indicates that you think rather the opposite. You do not need my permission, Robbie, but you may certainly have my blessing. I suggest you take ship to Plymouth and ride from there, if you can bear the unseasonable weather. Far better than riding across country in the snow, especially considering your leg – we do not wish you to be laid up for another six months, after all.”

Robbie agreed with that sentiment wholeheartedly, of course, though naturally he had misgivings about taking ship so late in the year.

“I will need to pack my things, but I intend to leave the day after tomorrow – that will give me enough time to make arrangements for my travel.” As well as one or two other arrangements – but he needed to talk with Viola, and write a letter in order to put those in place.

“Well, I shall dare to hope that you return hence a married man. And, Robbie... I very much approve of your choice. I think you and she will be good for each other – and your life will certainly not be dull.”


End file.
